Remember back when we were trying to pass the health care bills? Remember how the House had to pass the Senate’s version of the bill and then make all the fixes in a separate budget reconciliation bill?
Okay, here’s a refresher. The Senate passed their version of the health care bill on Christmas Eve, 2009. Fifty-eight Democrats and two independents voted for cloture on the bill. But, before the bill could be reconciled with the House version, we lost Teddy Kennedy’s seat to Scott Brown. We no longer had the 60 needed votes for cloture. That meant that the Senate couldn’t make any changes to the bill, and that meant that the only way to pass a health care bill was for the House to pass the Senate version without amending it in any way. So, they did that. But they weren’t happy about it. And they put together a separate Budget Reconciliation Bill that only required 51 votes to pass that included the changes they wanted to make. They passed it and then they went into recess.
This time is was the Senate that had to pass a bill without making any changes to it. If any amendments succeeded then the bill would have had to been sent back to the House which was no longer in session. This presented an opportunity for the Republicans to introduce popular amendments and force the Democrats to vote against them. The most spectacular of these was Tom Coburn’s amendment to prohibit coverage of Viagra for child molesters and rapists.
Did you think they’d never use that vote? Think again:
Nevada Republican Senate nominee Sharron Angle is out with a harsh new ad Thursday, accusing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of approving funds to give Viagra to child molesters.
The ad begins with Angle and her husband walking hand-in-hand at sunset as she announces her approval of the message, but quickly transitions to attacking the Democratic Senate leader, who’s locked in a tough battle fore reelection, over the economic stimulus legislation, illegal immigration and, finally, using “taxpayer dollars to pay for Viagra for convicted child molesters and sex offenders.”
Did Harry Reid vote for sending taxpayer funds to child molesters and sex offenders so that they could buy Viagra? Only in the sense that he had the choice of voting against the amendment banning that use of funds or letting the health care bill die.
If that is what Angle is airing, that means that she is starting to lose her base. If it was a charge against a challenger, it might have some weight. But most Nevadans know who Harry Reid is and what he believes.
Now, in Virginia, a Republican blog has published pictures of Democratic challenger Krystal Ball (yes, that is her name thanks to her husband’s surname) at a Christmas party some years ago. She is in a short dress and a Santa hat. There is a guy dressed up like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer with a chain around his neck and a red dildo for a nose. In the photo, Krystal Ball is sucking the dildo nose. Because she is a challenger, this might get legs. She is running in VA-01 against Rob Wittman. That district runs from suburban DC in Fauqier County and Fredericksburg down to Williamburg and almost to Norfolk.
thanks for the description. I hadn’t heard about the dildo part of it, only the Santa suit and short dress. She’s a great candidate, and I hope women turn out and vote for her because of this crap.
I believe the guy she was flirting with was her then husband.
That makes it worse, doesn’t it? Her husband was not appalled with her and telling her to get back to the kitchen.
I haven’t seen any polling data, but she’s definitely one of the best candidates in the cycle. She’s pretty progressive, too.
I reign from the F-burg, but my Rep there is Eric Cantor.
Condolences.
Condolences aren’t really in order here…it is really a challenge instead. It means seabe gets to vote against him and work to toss his butt out on to the ash heap of history.
Heh, I have thought of taking him out myself when I turned 25.
Start making the 150,000 close friends that you will need to defeat him. And keep an eye on the redistricting debate that will soon be beginning. And get your feet wet in some local elective office — school board, county commission (or whatever they call it in Virginia), even soil and water commissioner. That gets you into the sorts of notebooks you will read about upcoming issues, relations with the professional staff, and handling irate phone calls from constituents.
Looking forward to saying, “I knew ’em when.”
second that. you only need 149,999 (or maybe 998 if Tarheel Dem counts in) more friends now.
Unfortunately they or sympathetic folks in their personal networks have to be registered voters in what is now Eric Cantor’s district.
That leaves me out. And not likely to move there anytime soon.
drat, leaves me out too. he’s back to 150,000.
The Republicans are truly despicable. Playing politics at the expense of the public health. But, then, why am I not surprised. They have played politics before with foreign policy in Vietnam and Iran under the pernicious guidance of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Is there nothing they will not do to gain an electoral advantage?
The Viagra for rapists amendment has got to be the bottom of the barrel, right?
I think they’d put Hilbert’s Hotel to the test – just when you think that you’ve seen the infinitely lowest thing possible from them they go ahead and remind you that there is no such thing as an actual infinite, and then they proceed to go lower still.
There is no “bottom of the barrel”. None at all except the limits of gullibility of the voters. When they lose and lose massively, they will stop.
I had a conversation yesterday with a progressive colleague and he was upset about “how Obama couldn’t get this or that through Congress” and he put the entire blame on Obama.
I agreed somewhat because I think Obama has some pull, especially with regard to use of the bully pulpit, that he hasn’t always used well.
But Senate procedures are so crazy and I’ve got a growing sense of impatience with people who are simply ignorant or lazy so they put all blame on the most visible guy. There are too many people who think they are informed progressives who don’t understand the rules and structures of our government.
So I asked my colleague if he understood the challenges in the Senate due to the disproportion of constituents per senator because two come from each state. Crickets.
I then asked my colleague if he had ever heard of the secret hold. Blink. Blink.
These two questions are going to be my new litmus test for deciding who I’m going to have political conversations with.
Good bye, “E pluribus, unum.”
Hello “Winning isn’t everything — it’s the only thing.”
I think it’s actually going to be an effective ad for her. Not because voters will think that Harry Reid really favors handing out Viagra to sex offenders. They won’t. But the ad will neutralize any attacks on Angle. If there is an ad highlighting any of Angle’s more extreme positions, the voters will shrug it off. “It’s just like that Viagra for molesters ad,” they’ll think, “just more overblown campaign nonsense.”